10 Things You Didn't Know About Chelsea Clinton

The former First Daughter—and mother of two—has quite the academic track record.

By
Ramona Emerson

Jul 28, 2016

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Chelsea Clinton, now 36, has been in the public eye for most of her life, but has been so rigorously protected from scrutiny by her powerful parents that it can be hard to get a bead on her. We're all familiar with her highlight reel: She went to Stanford, did a brief and highly compensated stint at NBC, married well, and now works primarily for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. (As an only child of a president and a presidential candidate, is it any wonder she's a high achiever?) But here some things you may not know.

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1She kind of wishes she was a Millennial.

Born in 1980, Clinton exists in an existential nightmare between Generation X (which last until 1979) and the Millennial generation, (which starts in 1981). Part of the real Lost Generation, she is understandably distressed about being left out by whoever randomly decides when generations start/end. In 2012, she begged Time for answers: "Why didn't I quite make the cut? And I got left out of Gen X, so, can't I just be shoehorned in?

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2She is extremely well educated.

First she got a BA in History from Stanford. Then she got a Master's in International Relations from Oxford. Then she thought, "Why get one Master's degree when you could get two?" And picked up another Master's, this time in Public Health, from Columbia. She topped off this educational buffet with a Doctorate in International Relations from Oxford.

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3Her name was inspired by a Joni Mitchell song.

"Chelsea Morning," which Mitchell wrote when she lived in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York.

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4Her wedding had insane security.

At Clinton's 2010 nuptials to Marc Mezvinsky in Rhinebeck, New York there was a no-fly zone over the event, and guests had to hand over their cell phones for the duration. These measures aren't so surprising considering the guest list included a former president, current Secretary of State, and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was reportedly the last one on the dance floor at 3:30 a.m.

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5Her dorm room was not like yours or mine.

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Not only was bulletproof glass installed in the windows, but members of her Secret Service detail had to pull a Never Been Kissed and pose as students during the four years that Clinton attended Stanford. Despite an impassioned request to respect their daughter's privacy at Stanford, both of her parents showed up on move-in day with a full motorcade and 250 journalists in tow. And you thought your parents were embarrassing.

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6She has two kids.

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Clinton may be a prime example of an only child turning out well, but she didn't take that chance with her daughter Charlotte—who just become a big sister. Clinton's son, Aidan Clinton Mezvinsky, was born on Saturday, June 18.

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7She used to be buddy buddy with Ivanka Trump.

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The two, who were introduced by their husbands, seemed to be at the beginning of budding friendship when they were seen together at several high-profile functions in the last few years. Chelsea even compared Ivanka to Bill Clinton in a Vogue profile, saying, "She's always aware of everyone around her[…]It's an awareness that in some ways reminds me of my dad, and his ability to increase the joy of the room." Let's just say that things between them seem to have cooled off a bit since then.

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8She lives on Madison Square Park in New York.

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Chelsea and her main man Marc bought a $10.5 million, 5,000-square-foot, top-floor apartment in the Whitman, a fancy pants building on Madison Square Park. The apartment has been described as "long and narrow," but don't be fooled into thinking that that means it's your standard railroad-style apartment. The Clinton/Mezvinsky residence has 4 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms (not to mention all the other rooms), as well as an in-building gym and dedicated elevator landing, obviously.

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9She made Soul Cycle even more expensive.

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In January Clinton held a Soul Cycle fundraiser for her mom's campaign, where the opportunity to sweat until you want to die while the former First Daughter looked on went for $2,700. Even though that sounds super fun, the seats didn't sell out, and they had to drop the price to $50, or essentially the cost of a normal class.

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10She knows how to "clap back at the haters."

"I have the indubious honor of being compared to a dog as a 13-year-old by Rush Limbaugh. That was not about me, that was about him," Clinton said during a 2014 speech in which she talked about the importance of having thick skin. Yes, Rush Limbaugh is a jerk, and you should be more worried if he says something nice about you than something mean, but going through middle school in the White House and then turning it into an inspirational teaching moment deserves some kind of very niche but very prestigious award.

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